Industry pitches for reform push

India's industry has raised the pitched for urgent action on key reform measures, quicker decision making and more transparent governance ahead of the second leg of the Parliament's budget session that begins on Tuesday. Himani Chandna Gurtoo reports.

India's industry has raised the pitched for urgent action on key reform measures, quicker decision making and more transparent governance ahead of the second leg of the Parliament's budget session that begins on Tuesday.

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"European worries, slowed reforms, delay in decision making and lack of good governance is hurting the Indian economy," Adi Godrej, the new president of industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said.

"Unfortunately, the perception about the economy is worse than the reality," Godrej, who heads the Godrej Group.

He said 68 amendment bills are pending in Parliament and it is critical to push reforms in sectors such as multi-brand retail, aviation, insurance and defence.

The Union government is battling surging criticism of policy paralysis, a series of corruption scandals and macroeconomic concerns. Last year, due to political compulsions the government quickly bottled up several reformist moves, including foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

Godrej said India's image as an investment hotspot has taken a beating. "Obviously, it does impact. It has already hampered the flow of investments. Aviation sector suffers cost and fund-raising problems. The 2G controversy and court rulings have the hit telecom," he said.

"Retrospective amendments, GAAR are to be blamed to create negative sentiments within. Government should not introduce such controversial policies," Godrej said.